How to code multiview depth maps?

Multiview depth map sequences can be also encoded using H.264/MVC. However, MVC is optimized for natural video sequences and does not consider the depth map characteristics. Current depth coding methods that handle depth map characteristics include:

• Adaptive wavelet coding of the depth map for stereoscopic view synthesis [1]
• Mesh-based depth coding for 3D video using hierarchical decomposition of depth maps [2]
• Depth reconstruction filter and down/up sampling for depth coding in 3-D video [3]
• The effect of depth compression on multiview rendering quality [4]

References

[1] I. Daribo, C. Tillier, and B. Pesquet-Popescu, “Adaptive wavelet coding of the depth map for stereoscopic view synthesis,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Workshop Multimedia Signal Process., Oct. 2008, pp. 413–417.

[2] S.-Y. Kim and Y.-S. Ho, “Mesh-based depth coding for 3D video using hierarchical decomposition of depth maps,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Image Process., Sep. 2007, pp. V-117–V-120.

[3] K.-J. Oh, S. Yea, A. Vetro, and Y.-S. Ho, “Depth reconstruction filter and down/up sampling for depth coding in 3-D video,” IEEE Signal Process. Lett., vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 747–750, Sep. 2009.

[4] P. Merkle et al., “The effect of depth compression on multiview rendering quality,” in Proc. 3DTV Conf., May 2008, pp. 245–248.